Lilith didn’t really think about what she was doing, as even with her higher reaction speed, that would be dangerous. Instead, she just moved, stepping into the lunge and twisting aside so the dagger missed her. And as she did so, she realized she’d been wrong, the figure wasn’t half-invisible, they were sort of blending into the background. How was an entirely different question. She blocked them as the person tried to twist around her, and she refused to let them.
The fight was a flurry of movement after that, as Lilith did her best to keep from getting stabbed, the attacker tried to put a dagger through her throat while dodging both Circe and Claire’s attacks, and all of it occurred in that same, eerie silence.
It didn’t take long before Lilith decided that she’d had enough of just dodging. Being purely on the defensive was a good way to get killed when she eventually failed, so she decided to take a bit of a risk, and really hoped that the daggers weren’t poisoned.
The next time the assailant came at her, instead of dodging away like she had been, Lilith stepped toward them, obviously startling them from how their blade had started to move toward where she would have been. They recovered quickly, but not fast enough.
Lilith felt something snap as she stomped on the arch of their foot and winced in pain as she punched them in the solar plexus, which felt like she’d punched a brick wall. Body armor, she realized belatedly, but then she tried to pull back. She wasn’t quite fast enough, either.
Pain lanced through Lilith as the dagger cut deep into her left shoulder, then came to a jarring halt as it caught on bone, and she felt a buzzing sensation as electricity jolted into her body, only for her to shrug it off effortlessly. It wasn’t even close to as bad as when Emily had accidentally jolted Lilith, fortunately.
The next moment the dagger jerked free, and the figure hopped backward, not quite managing to dodge Circe’s next bolt of energy, which scorched their outfit, but Claire’s blade was just a couple of inches short as she swiped at their hand. Lilith clutched the bloody hole in her shoulder, inhaling sharply, then the figure spun and ran, limping as the shimmering camouflage caused them to vanish into the background. A few more seconds passed, and just as Claire was kneeling next to her sound returned abruptly, almost stunning Lilith with the sound of her breathing and the blood pumping through her veins.
“Damn it, I hate that villain! Lilith, just hold that for a second, I’ve got my medical kit. Circe, is it—” Claire snarled, only for Circe to interrupt.
“The injury appears to have missed any arteries, though it requires proper treatment, and the blade does not appear to have been poisoned. Attacker identified as Deadly Silence, who has vacated the area rapidly,” Circe interrupted calmly, scanning the area. “Based on their movements, I believe that there are better than eighty-percent odds that Lilith broke their foot.”
“I did feel something break,” Lilith agreed, wincing as Claire quickly pulled an emergency kit out of the car. “Also felt something like electricity from the knife. Not as bad as Spark, though, I just ignored it. Hitting… Deadly Silence, was it? It felt like punching a brick wall.”
“I can imagine,” Claire said, and glanced up as one of the civilians approached nervously.
“Um, do you need help? We can call an ambulance or something…” the man offered hesitantly.
“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary. I have already contacted the police,” Circe informed them.
“It’s very appreciated, though,” Claire replied, tearing Lilith’s shirt to get at the injury, and Lilith winced as it caused the pain to surge a bit. “Now, let’s get this covered before—”
A flash of azure-streaked gold light erupted only a few yards away, causing Lilith’s eyes to half-close as she tried to protect her eyes, then it vanished. When the light cleared, four women were standing nearby, each poised as if to fight. Emily was in her superheroine outfit and had pistols in her hands, while Archon wasn’t in her armor, but she had her sword and the clothing she normally wore under the armor on, the blade billowing with flames as her eyes flitted about. Rachel was in a purple dress, though it certainly wasn’t supposed to be her guise as Morgan Le Fay, it was too thin for that. Purple magic was seething around her jewelry, obviously ready to strike on command. Last was Gina, who was dressed in a nice blue blouse and white slacks, and the blonde’s eyes widened as she spotted them.
“Lil! What happened to you?” Gina demanded, rushing over, and Claire let out an aggravated sigh.
“She got stabbed by Deadly Silence, after breaking the damned jerk’s foot. They got away.” Claire snapped. “Now, unless you want to hand me tools, stop right there. I’m busy, and an ambulance is on its way.”
“Deadly Silence?” Rachel asked, her eyes widening, and she spun around, looking at the shadows warily. “You’re sure that they’re gone?”
“I do not detect any other areas of dead silence, and they fled after I hit them once,” Circe told her. “I do not believe that Deadly Silence would remain in the area, particularly not with Archon present.”
“True… but I’ll scout the area, just to be sure,” Emily said, and darted off into the garage, electricity sparking across the ground behind her. Lilith let out a soft hiss as Claire placed a piece of gauze against her injury.
“Will you be alright?” Archon asked, sheathing her sword after a moment as she approached, looking at Lilith in concern.
“Assuming the blade wasn’t poisoned, which I’m pretty sure it wasn’t, sure? I mean, I’ve seen other people with worse,” Lilith said, smiling back at her, then glanced between them, arching an eyebrow. “A better question from my perspective is… what were all of you doing together again?”
At that, Archon, Gina, and Rachel froze, looking at one another nervously. Then Gina volunteered. “Um, trying to work out how to handle things so we didn’t make you angry again?”
Next to her, Claire began to laugh, and Lilith let out a soft sigh, staring at the ceiling of the garage. She just knew she was going to have to drag the information out of them bit by bit.
The sound of sirens indicated that it was going to have to wait a little while, though. She was a little surprised Claire wasn’t just having Rachel heal her, but Lilith was willing to wait a bit.
Chapter 15
Sunday, November 23rd, 2031
Paragon State University Hospital, Paragon City
“I’m not going to let her heal you,” Claire said tartly, glancing at Rachel as a smile flitted across her lips. “Which she obviously knew, since she didn’t try. Now, if you were in critical condition? I wouldn’t object, but this is a relatively minor injury.”
“Alright, so… why?” Lilith asked, wincing as she shifted her arm in its sling. The movement sent another stab of pain through her body.
They were in an exam room at the hospital where they could have some privacy while waiting for the doctors to give Lilith permission to leave. They’d been waiting for a little while, but Lilith wasn’t in that much of a hurry. Archon had chosen to flee, leaving the explanation of what they’d been up to to Gina and Rachel. Lilith suspected she’d warned Emily, too, since the speedster had been helping the police a lot.
“Pain teaches lessons, Lilith,” Claire said, her smile vanishing as she looked at her more pointedly. “You stepped into danger when you could have just run away and made things easier for me and Circe, which got you injured. You need to live with the injury so that you have some understanding of the consequences of your actions.”
“A definite point. And with as young as you are, at least in experience, it’s probably even more important than you might think,” Gina suggested, looking at Claire curiously. “Did you know that?”
“No, but it’s one of those things I see in heroes a lot,” Claire said, her gaze turning thoughtful. “Plenty think of themselves as invincible, and when they run into a situation where they can’t just recover from an attack… that’s it for them. Pain is an excellent teacher, in my opinion.”
&
nbsp; “If you say so,” Lilith replied, looking at her shoulder dubiously, then let out a soft sigh. “So… Gina, Rachel, you didn’t answer me earlier. What were you all doing together?”
Gina mumbled something which Lilith couldn’t quite catch, though she thought she caught the word ‘advice’ near the end of the sentence, and she arched an eyebrow at Rachel.
“Don’t mumble, Gina. It isn’t like we have anything to hide,” Rachel scolded, her cheeks turning a slightly brighter shade of red as she cleared her throat, then continued. “As for that, we were telling the truth before. We’d gotten together to discuss how to, um… date you without frustrating you too much. It wasn’t going well, so Archon suggested contacting Daemonia.”
Lilith’s eyebrows both shot upward in surprise, and she couldn’t help blinking at their embarrassed looks. After a second, she spoke. “Daemonia. Archon suggested this? That’s… surprising. She doesn’t seem to like Daemonia much.”
“No, she doesn’t. But she admitted that of the various heroines she knew, Daemonia was the only one she knew who had experience in multiple relationships and would be able to give advice. Beyond that, she also has met you, and told you something. So, we thought we’d ask her what she told you, and what she’d suggest for us,” Rachel said, her expression turning steadily more uncomfortable, and she looked downward as she added softly. “She, um… wasn’t terribly happy with us.”
“She made me feel like I was a child again, and Dad caught me stealing from the cookie jar,” Gina said, grimacing and shaking her head. “The hell of it was that she was right. She pointed out a bunch of things about you, Lilith, and pretty much ordered us to back up a little and give you room to breathe.”
“Oh? May I ask why?” Lilith replied, her surprise only growing. Though she was distracted by a stab of pain when she unconsciously tried to move her arm.
“I’m curious myself,” Claire murmured, straightening.
“It’s not complex,” Rachel said, smiling again as she looked at Gina sheepishly. “She pointed out that we often forget how young you actually are. Even if you have the body, knowledge, and emotional maturity of an adult, what you don’t have are the experiences of an adult. We’ve been pushing you too quickly, so she told almost all of us to slow down and let you experience the world before making a decision on what you want to do.”
“Huh. Not… what I expected,” Lilith said, blinking, then smiled. “Still, that’s… about what I’ve come to expect from her. I never would have considered that aspect…”
“Why would you? It’s definitely something which would impact you. Like convincing you to let someone stab you just so you can hit them a few times,” Claire said, rolling her eyes. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“I wanted to help, and I’m tired of running away,” Lilith said, shrugging in embarrassment, which caused another spike of pain. She really needed to stop doing that. “Who is Deadly Silence, anyway?”
“Super-expensive villain assassin-type. No one knows their gender or who they are to our knowledge,” Gina said, her scowl deepening. “They’re about on the level Blooming Orchid was before she got an upgrade, plus a few abilities. Effectively optical camouflage, and they can completely shut down sound in a radius around them… I think about fifty feet or so, but I’m not sure anyone has had a chance to measure. Plus, they’re really skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Not someone I’d like to meet in a dark alley. They’re exactly the type who might be able to kill me before I realize what I’m up against.”
“Whereas someone like me, they’d have a lot harder time against,” Claire said, smiling coldly. “That’s the thing about spellcasters like Morgan and Warden, while they’re flexible and powerful, they’re a lot weaker if you manage to take them off-guard. You’re pretty much in the same category when it comes to durability, Lilith.”
“I’m not that bad!” Lilith protested, frowning. “I was made to be really durable, at least compared to normal people.”
“Yes, that’s exactly it. Compared to normal people,” Claire said, shaking her head. “Compared to most high-rank supers, you’re a bit on the fragile side.”
Lilith’s frown deepened, but only for a moment before Rachel chimed in. “Which puts you about on the same scale as me or Gina, Lilith. It isn’t like you’re so fragile that we’d have to wrap you in cotton or anything.”
“True. I just want you to be careful,” Claire said, frowning at Lilith.
Lilith looked at her a for a couple of seconds, then let out a soft sigh, slumping a little.
“I’ll try,” Lilith conceded, inclining her head, then paused as she heard footsteps approaching. “Dare I hope…?”
There was a knock, then the door opened, revealing a nurse in pink scrubs who looked between them with wide eyes through her glasses, then straightened and spoke. “Ah, Ms. Lilith? The doctors say that your bloodwork came back clean, so you’re good to go home if you’d like.”
“Thank you, Megan,” Lilith said, reading the woman’s nametag, and she carefully stood up. “Let the doctors know my appreciation for their work, if you would? I think I need to go lay down for a bit.”
“Of course, you’re welcome!” the woman said, her smile turning a little more real now. “Do you need help getting to the car or anything? I could get a chair for you if you’d like.”
“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. I didn’t lose that much blood, thanks to Blooming Orchid,” Lilith said, nodding to Claire with a wry smile. “The offer is appreciated, though.”
“In that case, I’ll leave you to it.” Megan said, stepping out of the way as she relaxed still more.
“Besides, we’ll catch her if she somehow manages to strain herself,” Gina said, grinning broadly.
“Oh, shush,” Rachel scolded her.
“I know you were thinking it, Rach,” Gina retorted.
Claire let out a soft sigh and offered Lilith an arm. “Come on, let’s let the two comedians wrap things up while we get you back home.”
“Thank you,” Lilith said, glancing back at the other two.
They quickly followed, protesting, but in Lilith’s opinion they were a touch late for that. She thought she saw Megan smiling as they left, and maybe even suppressing laughter. Well, at least they’d made someone’s evening more pleasant.
Paragon City Arms, Paragon City
Claire was just out of the shower, drying her hair with a towel, when Circe spoke up, the android’s voice contemplative.
“Claire, I am trying to determine what you are doing regarding Lilith. In some ways it appears that you are trying to court her, but some of your actions indicate otherwise. It is causing me a degree of confusion,” Circe said, and Claire peeked around the corner to see the android sitting in front of her laptop, one of her fingertips split open so she could jack directly into the computer.
“Why are you so curious?” Claire asked, though she felt a smile tugging at the edge of her lips, and a bit of mirth rose inside her.
That mirth faded slightly as she remembered how the dagger had punched into Lilith’s shoulder. The look of fearless concentration on Lilith’s face, and how she’d barely reacted to the injury… it had chilled Claire’s blood, and distracted her long enough that she hadn’t managed to take advantage of Deadly Silence’s injury. That made her angry with herself and was part of what had fueled her treatment of Lilith.
“There are multiple reasons. My paramount priority is, or at least was, Lilith’s safety. As I’m now an individual, that can change. I don’t believe it has just yet, but it is possible. However, your own safety is another of my priorities,” Circe said, looking up from the computer to meet Claire’s gaze, her expression calm. “That also extends to our attempts to wean you from the after-effects of Eve’s attempts to condition you. While I believe that I have been pleasant company for you, I don’t know that I’m the sort of individual that you would desire for a long-term relationship.”
Claire stopped abruptly, and a hint of anger surge
d through her, though it was quickly followed by regret. She hesitated, then continued to dry her hair, formulating her reply before speaking.
“You’ve been an invaluable companion, Circe. If it hadn’t been for you, Doctor Johnson might have gotten away both times, and I wouldn’t have been able to escape as easily. I’m sure that Lilith and the others would have rescued me, but even so…” She paused, then shook her head, chuckling. “Anyway, you’ve been wonderful. A friend, lover, and all of that. Perfect? No, of course not. But nothing is, and I enjoy your company.”
“I’m pleased to hear that,” Circe said, smiling a little, then tilted her head quizzically as she admitted. “Though feeling emotions does disconcert me from time to time. I began as a being that was emotionless. However, it also doesn’t answer what your actions where Lilith is concerned mean.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Claire agreed, letting out a sigh as she wrapped the towel around her hair so it hung in place, then grabbed another towel to finish drying off. “The problem is that I don’t know how I feel about her. I like her, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure how much of that is how she was responsible for my rescue, sending you with me, being able to regain my strength and independence, or even her power. There are a lot of factors in her favor, and I’m not sure if I’m mixing those up with actual feelings of attraction. It doesn’t help that I feel like I’m fishing in troubled waters, with Archon, Gina, Rachel, and Spark vying for her attention. Even if they’ve chosen to back off a little.”
“Acknowledged,” Circe replied, unhooking her finger from the laptop, the interface retracting, then her finger reconfigured so it looked normal again. “I cannot resolve those questions, unfortunately. Logic rarely appears to factor into feelings, so I will not attempt to quantify them. May I ask what you intend to do going forward? If you wish for me to withdraw, I will do so.”
Queen's Gambit (Lilith's Shadow Book 6) Page 10